Avengers movie reviews

Early reviews for "The Avengers" movie are in, and the adaptation of comic book super-heroes appears to promise non-stop action, surrounding sub-plots of intrugue. I always considered the Marvel grab bag as B-list superheroes, trailing well behind Batman and Superman. But the group, which includes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, has developed into movie powerhouse. Here are excerpts from some reviews of the movie, which will be widely released Friday.

-- Chicago Tribune: Seeing it in 2-D, the movie played well enough. Catching it a second time this week, in 3-D, with a raucous, eager crowd, provided that little extra something that lifted the experience up a level. While 3-D isn’t crucial to your engagement with “The Avengers,” it helps.

-- Rolling Stone:The Avengers has it all. And then some. Six superheroes for the price of one ticket: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk. It's also the blockbuster I saw in my head when I imagined a movie that brought together the idols of the Marvel world in one shiny, stupendously exciting package. It's Transformerswith a brain, a heart and a working sense of humor.

-- Salon: I damn “The Avengers” with faint praise, observing that the (supposed) culmination of the long, laborious Marvel Comics movie franchise is a competent but pointless popcorn entertainment that’s being wildly overpraised simply for existing without being incoherent and terrible.-- Time: The movie guarantees fast-paced fun without forcing anyone to think about what it all means, which is nothing. ... A pop-culture smash should not mean but do: break stuff, agitate the senses, keep the customer satisfied. The Avengersdoesn’t aim for transcendence, only for the juggler’s skill of keeping the balls smoothly airborne, and in 3-D too (converted after production). At that it succeeds.